SC eyes digital format for future Bar exams

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) is planning to pursue a “digitalized format” in future Bar examinations following the success of the first digitalized 2020-2021 examinations held earlier this month, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said on Thursday.

“To sustain the momentum of this digital shift, the court will pursue the conduct of all succeeding Bar examinations in a computerized format, a long overdue innovation, to align with our strategic plan’s drive toward running all of the judiciary’s adjudicative and administrative system digitally,” he said during the hybrid formal launch of the Legal Education Board (LEB)’s Legal Education Advancement Program at a hotel in Pasay City.

He called on the LEB, the Philippine Association of Law Schools and law school deans to “adopt the necessary change in policies and methodologies as the court fully transitions to this new platform for administering the Bar examinations.”

Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, chairperson of the committee on Bar reform, said they see the need to couple academic focus with the “realities of active practice.”

The 2022 Bar examinations will be chaired by Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

Gesmundo said there are also “exciting changes” to look forward to in the next Bar exams, which include revisions on examination subjects, weight of the subjects and schedule of the examinations.